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Hudak cries foul over new TV ads promoting Liberal green energy act

The Ontario PC leader is raising questions about new TV ads by the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association urging voters to cast their ballots for candidates supporting the Liberal government’s green energy act.

Ontario PC Leader, pictured at a meeting with the Toronto Star's editorial board Thursday, is questioning new TV ads by the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association that urges people to vote for candidates who support the Liberal government's green energy act. (David Cooper / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

The association has received more than $4.5 million in government money in recent years, the Conservatives said Friday.

“I think this looks awfully fishy,” Hudak told reporters during a campaign event at a family home in Don Valley East, a riding the party considers up for grabs after the retirement of Liberal MPP David Caplan.

“Somehow they find the money to do expensive TV ads…something smells here.”

The Association said on Twitter that the money for the ads came from its members — companies in the province’s fledgling green energy industry that the Liberals have kick-started with legislation paying up to 80 cents per kilowatt of electricity generated from renewables.

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“Thanks to the OSEA members that contributed financially to make our TV campaign possible.”

Hudak said the Liberal green energy policies are behind “skyrocketing” hydro rates, and has pledged to scrap the Liberal government’s Samsung green energy deal — even though it has led to criticisms that would kill thousands of new jobs. But he argues that high electricity prices are job killers.

The Liberals moved quickly to attempt to control any damage from the ads, insisting that the Association does not need to register with Elections Ontario because it is not doing political advertising that is promoting or opposing a registered political party or candidate.

Hudak’s Conservatives aren’t buying that argument, calling on Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty “to explain why the organization they’ve given millions of taxpayers’ money to is now funding television advertisements in support of their re-election campaign.

In Windsor, Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty insisted the OSEA ads were not paid for with public funds.

“They said that they’re not using the funds for that purpose,” McGuinty said at CS Wind in Windsor, a Vietnamese company creating 300 jobs here thanks to Samsung’s $7-billion investment in Ontario.

“We’ve got all kinds of organizations around the province that are committed to the democratic process and are getting involved in one way or another,” he said.

“I think that’s a good thing.”

In a statement, the Association’s executive director Kristopher Stevens maintains: “We would never tell Ontarians how to vote, but they need to know there are choices.”

The ads don’t mention any political party, but McGuinty has been campaigning heavily on his green energy policies, visiting solar panel companies several times.

One of the ads, which will run until Oct. 4, says that 20,000 green energy jobs have been created since 2009 — which is the same number McGuinty uses — and closes with a message for voters.

“On election day, support those who support the Green Energy and Economy Act.”

The ads appeared on a day when Hudak met with an information technology consultant and his unemployed wife to talk about eliminating waste in government after scandals at eHealth and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, along with $25 million in severance for tax collectors transferred to the federal government under the HST deal.

“They were doing the exact same job the next day,” said Hudak, who appeared at the event with Don Valley East candidate Michael Lende, the regional VP for ZipCar Toronto.

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